Attenberg. 2010. Greece. Written and directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari. With Ariane Labed, Giorgos Lanthimos, Vangelis Mourikis, Evangelia Randou. 35mm. In Greek; English subtitles. 95 min.
In its irreverent use of (new) Nouvelle Vague, musical, melodrama, and nature documentary, Attenberg symbolically visualizes a change in generation and perspective as a father and daughter gently negotiate their individual rites of passage. The film follows a visionary architect who has come home to die in the vanishing industrial town that is his legacy to his daughter. Meanwhile, his daughter (played by Ariane Labed, in a performance that garnered her the Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival) is exploring the mysteries of kissing with her girlfriend and the beyond with a visiting engineer. Tsangari’s film—featuring a soundtrack of songs by Francoise Hardy and the band Suicide that is woven into the narrative—is poised between sincerity and hilarity, tradition and experimentation.